Random Posts

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Whatever Happened to Quantum Stealth?

     Quantum Stealth was new material which is supposed to be an “Invisibility cloak” which was reported to bend light waves around a target which allowed complete invisibility. It is possible to have "invisibility" at least for specific wavelengths, but a "cloak" that applies to a wide range like the full visible spectrum?! 
     In 2012 a Canadian company called Hyperstealth announced that it had developed Quantum Stealth, a material that renders the target “completely invisible by bending light waves around the target.”  It worked like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. 
     Hyperstealth, in business since 2002, is in the business of designing camouflage patterns for military uniforms, vehicles, and installations. In 2010, at the International Camouflage Symposium, Hyperstealth’s CEO Guy Cramer demonstrated SmartCamo, a material that could reportedly adjust its camouflage markings to match its surroundings. “Reportedly” because Cramer apparently published a video demonstration of SmartCamo, but then US military intervened and asked him to take it down. 
     For security reasons, the company said very little about Quantum Stealth and all the pictures were mock-ups, because Cramer said, “for security issues we can not show the actual technology.” According to Cramer both the US and Canadian military had seen Quantum Stealth in action, and confirmed that the material obscured the target from infrared (thermal) imaging. 
     In 2017, amateur footage of a "quantum invisibility cloak" caused widespread excitement on Chinese social media. The video showed a man standing in the middle of a bush being enveloped by a transparent sheet. He disappeared as the cloth blended into the background entirely. 
     It fooled China's deputy head of Criminal Investigation Department at the Ministry of Public Security, Chen Shiqu, who shared the footage and claimed it could be useful in military matters. "This is a quantum technology-made cloth that is made of transparent material," he wrote. "It can reflect the light wave around the person who wears it, so it can make the person disappear." 
     If Quantum Stealth really exists, though, you’d assume that the US military would be wearing it, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that this is the case. The whole thing reminds me of the Philadelphia Experiment.

No comments:

Post a Comment